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/ibarmers /ifoafcetb /IftarL., 






pres* ]f* H. ©oemer 



©eltvereb before tbe Stucent* of 



©abu College 



June 20, 1900 




Honolulu 
Hawaiian ©a3ette Co 
1900 



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Ipree. f. fl. Iboemer 



©eUveveo before tbe Stubents of 



©abu College 



June 20, 1900 




Ibonolulu 
"fijawauan tSa3ette Co 
1900 



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MANNERS MAKETH MAN 



Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous. 

In an address delivered last year at the inaugura- 
tion of the new head of Wellesley College, President 
Eliot of Harvard suggested that the manners of Amer- 
ican students needed amending and hoped that the 
new generation would show great improvement. He 
questioned whether American colleges inculcated 
manners with any success. 

Some people are gentle and courteous by nature 
and like the poet Addison they seem to shed around 
them genial warmth and sunshine. 

Others are careless in behavior and are rude because 
no kind friend has ever pointed out to them the de- 
fect. We all remember the words of the Scotch poet 
Burns — 

"O wad some power the Giftie gie us 
To see oursels as others see us." 

Let me illustrate by an Eastern tale: 

Many years ago during that period known to history 
as the dark ages, a Frankish knight was entertained 
by an Arab sheik. After an extended visit the knight, 
when on his way home, was overtaken by a slave of 
his host, who fell on his face before the Frank and 



said: "My master lias bidden me to ride after tliee 
and give thee this message. He has been delighted to 
meet so polished a gentleman as thou art. He cannot 
allow a knight so courteous to go away without telling 
him of one little fault, a little bad habit, a peculiarity 
of speech and of gesture in one whose conduct would 
otherwise be perfect." 

The knight accepted the criticism in good part. 



■5f "7T 7T "K* 



Here in the college I find the young men and young 
women with many virtues; they are faithful in study, 
honest and fair-minded. During the ten years T have 
been here, no boy or girl has ever done a mean act or 
willfully told an untruth. And yet you will bear with 
me if I apply this Oriental story to you all and say 
that none are so good but that they can be improved. 
Let it be said truthfully of every girl here, She is al- 
ways a lady ; let it be said with truth of every Punahon 
boy, He is always a gentleman. You bear the honor 
of the school in your keeping, in the class-room, on 
the campus, in your homes, at church, on the tram 
car, or wherever vou are. 

Let no rudeness come from a Punahou boy or a 
Punahou girl. Let it be noticeable to every one that 
the fact that you are a student at Oahu College is 
reason enough for your being courteous. 

"Noblesse oblige" was the motto of the old French 
nobility. They thought that their position had its 
obligations. They were born to be ladies and gentle- 
men. 



And I sav to you today — "Noblesse oblige" — Your 
position lias its obligations. You are students in the 
highest institution of learning in Hawaii-nei and you 
have in your keeping the honor of this school; — of this 
school, do I say? — more, you are to show to the com- 
munity that you are worthy of the trust that is being- 
placed upon you. 

It is more necessary to be a gentleman than a 
scholar. The poet Chaucer, speaking of a lovely 
woman, said, 

"She is mirrour of all courtesy." 

True politeness like charity, suifereth long and is 
kind; it envieth not — it vaunteth not itself, is not 
puffed up. It doth not behave itself unseemly, it 
thinketh no evil, it rejoiceth not in iniquity, but re- 
jeiceth in the truth. 

But I am to confine myself to what the French call 
les petites mot-ales — the little morals — and let me emu- 
late the example of the great Kong Fu Tse, by giving 
a few negatives that may be useful. 

Do not keep up a whispered conversation while a 
piece of music is being rendered. It indicates a lack 
of appreciation. 

Do not whisper during the sermon; it shows dis- 
respect and irreverence. 

Do not make too much noise in applause. Applaud 
with discrimination. Let it appear that you have 
judgment. Do not ask for the whole programme over 
again. Too many encores are tedious in the extreme. 



I 



6 

Do not keep time with the foot or hand at the con- 
cert or nmsicale to the annoyance of others. 

Do not sit on a table. Camp manners are not lit for 
the house. 

Do not sit on the back of a chair or settee and put 
your feet on the seat. Think of the ladies' dresses. 
Keep your feet on the floor or the ground. 

Do not scatter crumbs or drop the peeling of fruit 
or pieces of paper where others will have to pick them 
up. Do not add to labor but be of the number of those 
who lessen it. 

Do not put a moist hand on the polished surface of 
a piano; keep your handkerchief between the piano 
and your hand. The well bred hostess will observe 
and appreciate it. 

Do not carry mud into the house or class room. 
Carefully clean the shoes on entering the door. 

Do not forget the little phrases of good will that 
mark the perfect manners. "Thank you" costs so lit- 
tle and goes so far. 

Do not by word or act give unnecessary pain to any 
one. There is enough sorrow in the world without 
our adding to it. Let us lighten sorrow and give pleas- 
ure where we can. 

Good manners secure your admission to good so- 
ciety. Bad manners in the end bar you out. No one 
will tell you but you will be gradually dropped. 

Let the moral tone of the school be against rude- 
ness. Let common sense decide what is the proper 
conduct for each occasion and each place. We can 



7 

wrestle and shout on the foot ball field but not in the 
parlor or the class room. 

There is a time for everything. To everything there 
is a season, and a time to every purpose under the 
heaven : 

A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn 
and a time to dance, a time to keep silence and a time 
to speak. 

He hath made everything beautiful in his time; it 
is the gift of God. 

We boast our American civilization but there is an- 
other nation, now a near neighbor, which puts us to 
shame as far as manners are concerned. I refer to Dai 
Nippon, the empire of the Japanese, — the Frenchmen 
of the Pacific. We have in these Islands only the 
peasant class and yet even their manners are worth 
observing. There is much we can learn. They dress 
in quiet colors, they are personally clean, and seek 
clean surroundings, they have taste in ornamentation, 
they are polite to each other and to those of other 
nationalities. 

In Japan the manners of the better classes are ex- 
quisite. 

Some years since, when the relations between Korea 
and Japan were strained, news came to Osaka that 
the Japanese legation and consulate in Seoul, Korea, 
had been attacked and many Japanese had been mas- 
sacred. The excitement at Osaka was intense. The 
citizens in mass meeting voted one million dollars 
and three regiments of soldiers. There were two 



Koreans wandering in the streets of Osaka when the 

excitement was at the highest pitch — yet no deed of 

violence was done or word of insult offered. Would 

this conduct have been duplicated in any American 

city? 

Is Japanese politeness superficial like their own 

lacquer which we admire so much? If it is, let me add 

that so is the dew drop that adds lustre to the rose. 

**** 

Do 3 t ou know what Philistinism is? Do you 
think that Goliath was the last of the Philistines? 
Oh no! There are thousands of them, yea, tens of 
thousands not yet slain. 

Do you know a Vandal when you see him? 

In the fifth century after Christ a rude tribe of 
barbarians, called Vandals, came down from the 
North and conquered Rome. They destroyed count- 
less monuments of art and literature and so we stig- 
matize as a Vandal any person who is so rude as to 
disfigure that which is beautiful — one who will cut 
his name on a graceful palm, break an iron fence, 
whistle in the opera house, mar the smooth surface of 
beautiful furniture, injure statuary, paintings, and 
other works of art, who will deface the fair pages of 
books, break a lady's fan, step on her train. Oh how 
Indies dread to see the Vandal approach! 

I saw a Vandal once. He was a graduate of an 
American college. I was in the parlor of a distin- 
guished son of Massachusetts. The Vandal was an- 
nounced and entered, the gravel of the walk still cling- 
ing to his boots. He interrupted our conversation. 



9 

Soon he tilted back his chair, and placed one foot on 
the polished oak table and swayed to and fro, grind- 
ing the smooth sin-face of the costly wood with his 
giavelly instep. The host endured it in silence till 
patience ceased to be a virtue. He reached out his 
hand, grasped the offender's ankle, and placed the 
foot upon the floor. 

Well, what is a Philistine? Matthew Arnold tells 
us that "He is one who is deficient in liberal culture 
and refinement; one without appreciation of the nobler 
aspirations and sentiments of humanity; one whose 
scope is limited to selfish and material interests. " 
Philistinism is vulgarity, coarseness, rudeness, lack of 
good sense. 

Some people are born coarse in the grain. They 
cannot be polished. To give them opportunities of 
education and refinement is like the traditional cast- 
ing of pearls before swine. Thank God, there are none 
of that number in Punahou! 

Let us turn from this picture to another more at- 
tractive — to that model of English manhood in the 
days of good Queen Elizabeth — Sir Philip Sidney. He 
has left us the true definition of noble manhood and 
noble womanhood. Tt is to have "high thoughts seat- 
ed in a heart of courtesy." 

When dying on the field of Lutzen, a cup of cold 
water was brought to cool his parched lips and as he 
eagerly seized it, he saw a private soldier, wounded 
unto death, wistfully gazing at the precious cup. 
Take it," said Sidney, "thy necessit}^ is greater than 



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10 

mine." Even in death he was thoughtful to be a gen- 
tleman, to have high thoughts seated in a heart of 
courtesy. 

If our young men and young women have high 
thoughts, if they are courteous and considerate, if 
they can always be depended upon to do what is right, 
their manhood and womanhood will be recognized by 
all people whose opinion is worth respecting. 

To the young ladies I would say in closing, 

"Girls, 

Knowledge is now no more a fountain seal'd; 
Drink deep, until the habits of the slave, 
The sins of emptiness, gossip, and spite 
And slander die. Better not be at all 
Than not be noble." 

And to the young men, these words: 

"Come wealth or want, come good or ill, 
Let young and old accept their part 

And bow before the awful will, 
And bear it with an honest heart. 

"Who misses or who wins the prize, 
Go, lose or conquer as you can; 

But if you fail or if you rise, 
Be each, pray God, a gentleman." 



AUG 20 1900 



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